Triana Health Clinic on National Historic Register

Dave Dieter/The Huntsville TimesBetty Williams is excited about National Historic Register designation for the old Triana Health Clinic.

TRIANA, AL - When Betty Caudle Williams was a young girl, her family used the Triana Medical Clinic because it was the only public health clinic for blacks in rural Madison County.

Williams credits the clinic's long-time nurse, Johnnie LouJean Dent, for saving her brother's life in 1952. Ben Caudle's arms were severely burned when he was trying to light a fire to heat the church where the family worshiped.

Nurse Dent was instrumental in getting him to a Birmingham hospital and he completely recovered from his burns. Ben Caudle now lives in New York.

"He probably wouldn't be alive today had it not been for Nurse Dent," said Williams.

In an effort to save the building that housed the clinic that saved her brother, Williams played a key role in helping get it placed on the National Register of Historic Places, which finally happened last month. The building, plus the detached garage on the grounds, are Triana's only historic buildings.

"It has been a few years in the making," said Williams, president of the Triana Historical Society. "It's going to take a lot of money to repair it. It tells the story of the nation and the Town of Triana."

The square stone building, which has an unfinished basement, was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the late 1930s and early 1940s for the Wheeler Wildlife warden whose family lived in it until 1946.

It then housed the Triana Health Clinic, the only public health clinic for blacks in rural Madison County. At one time the garage served as the town hall.

The Wheeler Wildlife Refuge surrounded the house, which overlooked the Tennessee River. Trees and overgrown brush now block the view, although Williams hopes one day to restore it by cutting down some of the growth.

Wheeler was one of 42 national wildlife refuges developed by the CCC for the Fish and Wildlife Service and the only one in Alabama. The design of the warden's house represented the "rustic park architecture" being constructed in national and state parks, as well as in other New Deal projects in the 1930s, said Susan Enzweiler of the Alabama Historical Commission.

Enzweiler said the building was placed on the Historic Register May 17.

Dr. Harold Fanning Drake ran the health clinic and was assisted by Nurse Dent who worked there until it closed in March 1990. She was 83 at the time. She died two years ago at 101.

"I got to talk with Nurse Dent on several occasions and she had some wonderful stories," said Williams as she strolled around the 25-acre grounds dotted with gargantuan shade trees, picnic tables and a playground. The Triana Historical Society plans to renovate the picnic tables and playground, but the members' priority is the building, which has been vacant for 20 years and in much disrepair on the inside.

"We previously put a roof on it, which had deteriorated from the elements," Williams said. "Water leaked into the basement and caused structural problems. We just need a lot of help with labor and materials."

Williams, a history buff, and retired Huntsville neurologist Dr. Paul McDowell, who now lives in Atlanta, worked tirelessly in getting the National Historic Register designation.

Williams has never lived in Triana, but she said it feels like home because she spent much of her childhood visiting relatives there. Her mother and grandmother were born there.

"It's a special place for me," said Williams, who retired from Chrysler. "As a child, I was consumed with the trees. It's a unique place."

People from as far away as New Orleans, who volunteer with Americorps, have come to help restore the historic building, said Williams. "It was very ironic that we helped a lot of people from New Orleans after Katrina and now they are giving back and helping us."

Triana Mayor Mary Caudle is "excited" about the historic designation and said the town "is working hard to restore the building."